If India’s squash ace Joshna Chinappa, fondly known on the circuit as Josh, is currently asked ‘How’s the josh?’ she would reply with an emphatic ‘High, sir’ just like in the 2019 Bollywood blockbuster Uri: The Surgical Strike.

Chinappa has been on a high for sure. Earlier this year, Chinappa won the Asian Championship women’s doubles title with Anahat Singh in June after which she made the semis at the Indian Open. And the fact that she’s 39, an age where most professional sportspersons either hang up their gear or switch to coaching, makes her most recent success — the Japan Open win in Yokohama on Monday — extra special. Add to this the fact that the current World No. 117, who underwent a knee surgery following her bronze medal win at the 2023 Asian Games, conquered three higher-ranked Egyptians en route, and you can gauge the level of determination that has helped Chinappa excel for over two decades. “It feels great to win a tour title after a long time,” Chinappa tells mid-day, having bagged her 11th Professional Squash Association (PSA) title after a decade.